


Missed Again

by Perhapsormaybe



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-09
Updated: 2016-02-09
Packaged: 2018-05-19 06:24:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5956954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Perhapsormaybe/pseuds/Perhapsormaybe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Marinette finally tells Adrien how she feels. But the response may not be exactly what she hoped for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Missed Again

Author's Note: I bet this has been done before, but I have not read it. So ...angst ahead because I got this idea at work today and I felt I needed to write it. I also want to make it into a comic, but my art skills are still a work in progress. 

“Okay. You can do this,” Alya rubbed Marinette's shoulders as though the latter girl were a boxer about to go into a match. The final school bell had just rung and they only had minutes before Adrien would be leaving for the day. The best friends made their way outside, both squinting from the sun's glare. 

“I can do this,” Marinette hopped from one foot to the other. “I can do this.”

“Of course you can!”

“I can do this,” Marinette said again, sounding slighty more confident. The pair continued to walk on, tracing the path they both knew Adrien would be taking. They spotted him about to get into his car, when the young model suddenly turned towards them and started rushing their way.

“I can't do this!” Marinette ducked behind Alya, who sighed and resisted the temptation to roll her eyes. 

“Adrien!” Alya called out. “What's the rush?”

“I forgot something in my locker,” he explained, picking up his pace. 

“Oh, really?” Alya asked, turning to follow him and pulling Marinette along with her. “Marinette, didn't you mention you forgot one of your books?”

“Huh?”

“You know,” Alya elbowed her in the ribs. “Your History book. You should go get it, we have homework tonight.” She turned the opposite direction. “You know how strict my mom is, though, have to get home on time! I'll see you later!”

With that, the red head took off, leaving Marinette alone with her crush. “Walk together, then, I guess?” Adrien suggested. Marinette could only bring herself to nod and stare at the floor. Adrien glanced down himself to try to see what was so interesting, but couldn't fathom what had the girl's attention. He slowed his pace down so she could keep up.

Inside her purse, Marinette could feel Tikki starting to move around – the kwami seemed to be bouncing around before she finally managed to open the clasp. “Remember, you said you would tell him today!” 

“Did you say something?” Adrien cocked his head to the side but continued to walk on. Marinette paused and took a deep breath, clenching her fists as she determinedly moved forward. 

“I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING,” she slapped one hand over her mouth. She hadn't meant to shout, but she was having a hard time keeping herself under control. Her palms were starting to sweat and she felt as though her cheeks were hot enough to burn someone. 

They reached the lockers and Adrien quickly dialed in his combination. “Weren't you going to grab your History book?”

“Oh! Right!” Marinette opened her backpack. “Except it's right here. Heh...I guess I forgot about that.”

“Oh. Okay,” Adrien shrugged, grabbing a book himself. By now he was used to Marinette's nervousness. It was kind of endearing to him, but he thought if he mentioned that to her she would only become more embarrassed. He didn't think he'd ever met anyone as shy as she was. “Well, I guess I'll see you Monday, then.”

“WAIT!” For the second time, she was much louder than she had intended to be. She let out a nervous laugh. “I mean. There was something I wanted to tell you.”

“Sure.”

Marinette bit her lower lip and tried to steady herself. Her hands reflexively clenched once more and she began nervously rocking back and forth on her feet. “I wanted to ...I wanted to say...”

Tikki once again opened the clasp on her purse. “Tell him!” she urged in a tiny whisper. This time the message was soft enough for only Marinette to hear. She took another deep breath and allowed the words to stumble out.

“IreallylikeyouandIwantedtoknowifyouwantedtogotothemovieswithmeorsomething..” She hadn't meant for it all to come out at once like that, but if she hadn't said it all in rapid succession she didn't think she'd ever get it out. As it was she wasn't certain Adrien had understood her and she couldn't bear the thought of repeating it.

They stood in silence for what felt like eternity. Adrien had caught what she said. The blond tucked a loose hair behind his ear before placing a hand on Marinette's shoulder. “I'm sorry. I...Marinette, I think you're great. You're an awesome friend, and you're kind and sometimes you're surprisingly tough. But...”

She wanted to tune it out. She didn't want to hear what came next. There was a stabbing pain in her chest and she was struggling to get air. She felt like she was underwater, her ears stopped up and barely able to hear what he said next. But unfortunately, she was able to hear it.

“I'm in love with someone else.”

“I understand,” Marinette smiled sweetly at him. “I ...I get it completely,” she was choking back tears at this point. _You are not going to cry in front of him. Don't do it._ Adrien removed his hand from her. 

“I really am sorry,” he apologized again. 

_Stop being so nice about it_ , she wished to herself. _It would be easier if you weren't being so nice, even now_. 

“I should go. The gori—my driver's waiting for me. I'll see you later.” He wanted to comfort her, there was even an urge to hug her. But he couldn't shake the feeling that it would be leading her on, and he knew that wasn't fair. Right now he just felt like a jerk.

Marinette watched as he walked away. As soon as he was out of sight, she slid down the lockers and hid her face in her hands. Tikki emerged from her purse again and perched on Marinette's shoulder. “I'm so sorry, Marinette. I...I really thought he felt the same,” The kwami apologized. “I'm sorry he doesn't see just how wonderful and strong you are.”

“That's okay, Tikki,” Marinette brushed the tears away with her sleeve. “I feel better about getting it out. At least now I have one less secret to protect.” She was lying. She knew it and Tikki knew it. But Marinette forced herself to stand back up. She was miserable, but she was strong enough for this not to defeat her. 

 

It was a quiet night. It was leaving Ladybug more than a little annoyed. She was still upset, but it had mixed with a strong urge to punch something, and so far there had been no Akuma sightings. Chat Noir had not yet met up with her, as he was busy scanning the other side of the city for trouble. She was kind of relieved. Right now it felt good to be alone, feeling the wind rush against her as she used her yo yo to propel herself from building top to building top.

She met Chat Noir somewhere in the middle of Paris on the rooftop of an abandoned building. He cocked his head as soon as he saw her, studying her very closely. He slowly started to circle her, still bearing a curious expression. He stopped in front of her and leaned it closely, meeting her blue eyes with his green ones. “Something's wrong.”

“Nothing's wrong, Chat. We just need to do our job and then go home.”

“You're not fooling me,” he crossed his arms. He too felt upset from the day's events – his mind kept going back to the image of a rejected Marinette. But however troubled he was, Ladybug actually looked agonized. “Cat got your tongue?”

She didn't even have the energy to chastise him for the bad joke.

“C'mon. You can tell me. Partners, right?”

Ladybug let out a long breath. “Just a healthy dose of rejection to keep my ego in check,” she explained. She'd already spilled earlier to Alya, who had apologized profusely for urging Marinette to admit her crush. Somehow she still needed to talk about it. 

“Rejection?” Chat crouched into a sitting position, motioning for Ladybug to follow his lead. She did, but then leaned her arms out behind her, staring up into the sky. There weren't really any stars out tonight, or much of anything to look at but she couldn't look Chat Noir in the eye. 

“There's this boy.”

“I see,” he tried to keep the jealousy out of his voice, but he was certain it was creeping in anyway. “Go on.”

“I finally told him I like him today. And he's in love with someone else.”

“Someone else?!” Chat Noir looked taken aback. “I can't say I believe anyone could not see how amazing you are, my lady.”

“You're sweet, Chat, but I'm not really in the mood for your flirting act today.”

He decided to tone it down for her sake. “I mean it, though. You're the biggest hero in Paris – better than me, even.” he flexed, hoping to get her to smile. It worked, to a degree, but it only upturned one corner of her mouth. And the smile never reached her eyes. “And you're beautiful and amazing and I really mean that.”

“You don't even know what I look like under the mask.”

“No. But I know you. You really are beautiful and I ...” he paused. He was about to tell her. He'd wanted to tell her for such a long time now, but he had to admit, now was not the time. “I think you're awesome,” he finished lamely. 

“Thanks, Chat. I better get home, though. It looks like we're not needed tonight and I have a ton of homework.”

“Me too,” Chat lied. He'd done all of his homework on the way to that evening's photo shoot. But Ladybug clearly wanted to leave and he was having a hard time seeing her this way. “I guess we'll take a paws for tonight.”

“Never change, Kitty,” Ladybug allowed herself a slight smile before yoyoing away. Chat watched her go, then glanced around to make sure no one could see him. He released his transformation before standing up and dusting himself off. Plagg studied him, zooming from one side to another.

“You could have told her.”

“Not now.”

“But you could have! That was a perfect opening for it.”

“No it wasn't. I'd either get rejected or I'd be the rebound. I need her to love me for me, or it's not worth it. I'd rather be her friend than be nothing at all to her,” Adrien set a hand over his heart. 

“What about that Valentine?”

“I still don't even know it was from her. Besides, she said she loves someone else. And the poor dope actually said no to her. I can't imagine what kind of idiot that guy would have to be to not see how amazing she is.”

The cat kwami shook his head. “Well, it's your business anyway. I still don't care much for this love junk.”

“I know.” Adrien smiled at him. “Let's go home. I'll get you some nice Camembert.”


End file.
